Urban centres will challenge Africa's ruling parties
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Significance
Urban discontent also contributed to the failure of South Africa’s ANC to secure a majority of the popular vote in last year’s municipal elections. This occurs against a background of rapid, though highly differentiated, urbanisation across much of Africa. This has created new challenges for ruling parties seeking to stay in power.
Impacts
- Authoritarian governments that fail to adapt will resort to greater levels of repression in order to retain power.
- Urban politics may foster a growing number of populist leaders seeking to rally support on the basis of cross-ethnic appeals.
- The centrality of ethnicity to political mobilisation could erode in some countries in the longer term.
- In the short term, overcrowding and competition over jobs may also inflame ethnic tensions in urban areas.
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